Comet 67P close-up...

Comet 67P close-up...  Rosetta has returned a couple of high-resolution images of comet 67P – the best images ever obtained of any comet.  The image at right shows a “village of boulders,” each roughly the size of a house – and at the moment nobody has any idea what they're made of, or how they came to be.

But this is merely the beginning!  Rosetta is currently orbiting 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) from 67P, but will be spiraling in to just 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) as the mission progresses.  That will increase areal resolution by a factor of 100 on the images obtained.  Even more important (if less attractive to the public): the science instruments are going to work very soon...